Dufour 455
Dufour · Umberto Felci · 2005
Updated
The Dufour 455 is a 13.35 m heavy displacement racing yacht designed by Umberto Felci and built by Dufour, first launched in 2005. It races in Class B.
Length
13.35 m
43′ 10″
Beam
4.29 m
Draft
1.93 m
Displacement
10.5 t
Sail area
92 m²
On the podium
Where a Dufour 455 finishes when she goes racing.
On the podium
0%
of 18 starts by 1 boat
Wins
0%
Read from 18 starts by 1 boat between 2024 and 2026, counting races with six boats or more.
Recent regattas
The latest events where a Dufour 455 was on the start line, named as the organisers publish them.
Campionato Invernale dell'Argentario - Coastal Race2026- 151 Miglia - Trofeo Cetilar2025
- 70a Regata dei Tre Golfi2025
- Campionato Invernale dell'Argentario - Coastal Race2025
- 3G2024
Raced one we are missing?
Report a regattaRound the buoys, or offshore
A short windward-leeward and a night at sea ask different things of a boat. Here is how this one does in each.
Round the buoys
—
Not enough data yet: 3 races of 10 NM or less carry a published distance.
Offshore & coastal
0%
of these races end on the podium
Who she races against
The designs a Dufour 455 actually lines up with, most often first. The bar shows how those meetings ended.
Also met, too few times for a figure:
First 36 (7 meetings), JOD 35 (6 meetings), Elan 410 (6 meetings), Sun Fast 40.3 (6 meetings), Grand Soleil 43 (Design) (6 meetings), J/35 (6 meetings), Farr 30 (6 meetings), Azuree 46 (6 meetings), Pogo 44 (5 meetings), Pogo 50 (5 meetings), First 45 (Briand) (4 meetings), Dehler 42 (4 meetings), Grand Soleil 47 (4 meetings), Comet 51 (4 meetings), First 41 (4 meetings), Bonin 31 (4 meetings), Sun Odyssey 45.2 (4 meetings), Hanse 400 (4 meetings), Oceanis 41 (4 meetings)
Some of the boats it races against
How the Dufour 455 has fared against each of them, boat against boat on corrected time. Ordered by how often the two meet, not by who wins.
Speed at every angle
The shape of this design's speed, drawn from the measured fleet. Pick a wind and watch it stretch.
Upwind VMG
5.71
40°
Beam reach
9.08
90°
Broad reach
9.53
135°
Downwind VMG
7.84
170°
Speed in knots at 20 knots of true wind. Green marks the angles that pay: the closest useful beat and the deepest run worth sailing.
Where it wins and where it pays
Every boat is judged against its own measurements — length, weight, sail area. The quicker those say it should be, the more it has to deliver just to break even. Going fast is not enough: it has to go faster than its own numbers promised.
It needs pressure to show what it can do. On a windy coastal course it is in its element; on a light-air windward-leeward it has to be sailed well to hold on.
Where it gains
Its best ground is on the beam once it pipes up, where it goes better than its measurements say it should, and by a margin worth having.
Where it pays
It falls short to windward in the light stuff, giving away time it never gets back.
Above the line it delivers more than promised and gains on the fleet. Below, it falls short. Move the wind: plenty of boats sit on one side in the light and the other when it blows.
Full width is 0.8 kn either way.
At 10 knots this design makes back more than its rating asks on the beam reach.
How fast is a Dufour 455
Boat speed in knots, by true wind angle and wind strength.
| Angle | 6 kn | 10 kn | 14 kn | 20 kn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beat VMG | 3.15 | 4.49 | 5.31 | 5.71 |
| 52° | 4.94 | 6.79 | 7.70 | 8.15 |
| 60° | 5.29 | 7.10 | 7.92 | 8.39 |
| 75° | 5.54 | 7.33 | 8.11 | 8.74 |
| 90° | 5.47 | 7.58 | 8.45 | 9.08 |
| 110° | 5.62 | 7.76 | 8.68 | 9.79 |
| 120° | 5.47 | 7.62 | 8.59 | 9.86 |
| 135° | 4.88 | 7.12 | 8.29 | 9.53 |
| 150° | 4.11 | 6.28 | 7.70 | 8.80 |
| Run VMG | 3.55 | 5.44 | 6.69 | 7.84 |
How they are set up
The range each sail spans across the fleet.
Nearly all carry a folding propeller. A bowsprit is standard across the fleet. Crew weight is declared around 840 kg.
Rigging
Dufour 455 rig and sail dimensions
A Dufour 455 carries 14.23 m of mainsail hoist on a 4.86 m boom, a forestay 15.28 m above the deck and a 6.10 m bowsprit. Typical figures across the 2 boats measured under the current VPP, with the range each one spans.
Rig
Sails
The spinnaker spreads widest of all — 111 to 128 m² depending on bowsprit and set-up. Before ordering a sail, read the figure on your own measurement record rather than the typical one for the design.